Chapter 58: Qihuang Pharmacy States Its Conditions

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The pheasant-tail vine here had already caught someone’s eye long ago. The one who had set their sights on it was the largest apothecary in the Kingdom of Dali—the Qihuang Apothecary.

Once, a pharmacist from the apothecary came to the precipice and spotted this pheasant-tail vine in full, brilliant yellow bloom. Feeling it necessary to harvest it for research, he immediately ordered the accompanying guards to climb down and pluck it. To his surprise, the moment they reached the vicinity of the vine, a snake head suddenly lunged out, snatched one of them, and vanished.

Realizing that the plant was guarded by a snake—and a snake capable of swallowing a guard in the initial stage of Qi Condensation—he knew it was beyond his depth and rushed back to report.

Upon hearing that the plant was guarded by a Qi Condensation-stage snake, the apothecary’s senior leadership immediately recognized that it was no ordinary flora. Its medicinal efficacy must be unique and its grade quite high, otherwise no snake would guard it. They promptly dispatched a team of elite guards: six in the mid-stage of Qi Condensation and twelve in the initial stage. Yet, the outcome was the loss of three men killed, two fallen to their deaths, and four severely injured, forcing them to retreat in disarray.

However, as they fled, they noticed other similar plants down in the giant pit. Thus, on their next attempt, they brought realgar and other snake-repellent drugs. Even so, it was to no avail; they were once again thoroughly routed and sent fleeing in panic.

After licking their wounds and reflecting on the failure, they enlisted the apothecary’s ultimate trump card—their sole late-stage Qi Condensation master. Yet, before he could exchange even two blows with the snake, his entire side was corroded by venom, and he plunged off the precipice.

In his dying moments, he gasped out a warning: "There is a late-stage Qi Condensation giant snake. We are no match for it. Do not covet this."

The greater the danger, the more resolute the apothecary leadership became in their determination to acquire the medicine. Over the next few years, they repeatedly hired outside late-stage Qi Condensation experts, only to meet the exact same fate each time: the cultivators either died or ended up on the brink of death as the expedition retreated.

After enduring several consecutive failures of this magnitude, the leadership finally understood that this medicine was beyond their reach, and they slowly extinguished their ambition for a direct assault.

Though they could not take it by force, they still yearned for it, dreaming of the day when they could unearth all these medicinal herbs. Consequently, they frequently sent men to keep watch in the surrounding area, holding onto the hope that the giant snake might one day leave its home and venture out into the broader world.

Yet that snake refused to budge, remaining stubbornly in place. This made their expectations grow fainter and fainter, though they still dispatched scouts here, hoping that fortune might one day smile upon them.

Today, the scout on duty was Chen Fan, a cultivator at the eighth tier of Qi Cultivation.

While digging up a century-old ordinary medicinal herb at the mountain peak, he saw smoke drifting up from below. He hurriedly excavated the plant, ran down the hillside, and peeked out from behind a massive boulder. A look of disdain crossed his eyes. "A few little fools thinking smoke can drive away the snake. How utterly naive."

When Qin Anyu shot and killed a giant snake (at the mid-stage of Qi Condensation), Chen Fan felt that they truly stood a chance of succeeding. He quickly fetched his horse and galloped back to report the news.

By the time he returned to the summit with two senior sect leaders and six mid-stage Qi Condensation guards, all they found was the cave entrance on the cliff jammed with dead snake heads, some stones wedged in between, and the target plant completely gone.

"Chen Fan, you said it was a group of children?"

"Yes, Second Manager. Two boys and two girls. Although none of them are short in stature, their facial features clearly belong to kids. However, the eldest possesses formidable combat power; with a single arrow, he struck down a giant snake."

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"How is that possible? There is a late-stage Qi Condensation snake here, which even realgar couldn't deal with, and we lost quite a few men and a great deal of gold. Did they manage to kill the snake and harvest the medicine in less than four double-hours?"

"Third Manager, it is the absolute truth. After the older boy shot two snakes, a girl rushed in and killed them. Since I couldn't see the specific details, I immediately rushed back to report."

A guard standing the furthest away shouted, "Two Managers, there are still two plants down in the pit that haven't been dug up, though there are some snakes nearby."

The group immediately walked over to him. The Second Manager said with pleasant surprise, "Indeed, there are still two left. Let's dig them up and take them back for study."

He had accompanied previous expeditions and had seen the pheasant-tail vine before, so he could confirm its identity.

At that moment, another guard standing motionless, Zhou Yikang, sniffed the air and asked, "Do any of you smell something?"

The Third Manager turned to him and asked, "What smell?"

"A faint scent of campfire smoke." Zhou Yikang pointed downward. "Drifting up from below."

The Third Manager walked over to him, sniffed the air, and pointed at a patch of ash on the ground below the cliff. "Could that be coming from that pile of fire?"

Zhou Yikang replied with certainty, "No. I am quite sensitive to this. The smell of this smoke is somewhat warm, carrying a hint of medicinal aroma. That fire down there is too far away; it wouldn't produce a condition like this."

The Third Manager said dismissively, "That only proves they once built a fire inside the cave. It has no other significance."

Zhou Yikang persisted, "Third Manager, I want to go down and take a look."

The Third Manager shook his head. "Unnecessary. We’d better hurry down, dig up those two medicinal plants, and then give chase to see if we can catch up. Anyone who can exert such great effort and successfully harvest the herbs must know something."

Zhou Yikang had no choice but to obey the Third Manager, following them as they rapidly descended the slope toward the edge of the pit.

Along the way, they spotted quite a few snakes, but not a single one dared to bare its fangs at them; the serpents simply fled at the sight of them.

They paid it no mind, because apart from Chen Fan, all the other eight members of this party were in the mid-stage of Qi Condensation.

Upon reaching the edge of the pit, the Second Manager looked bewildered. "These snakes are all listless. Is the power of fire attacks really this great?"

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The Third Manager waved a hand. "Kill them all. Dig up one... no, dig up both plants and take them back to cultivate."

The Second Manager was still puzzled. "What about that late-stage Qi Condensation snake? Has it left?"

Zhou Yikang and the others quickly dispatched the snakes, then walked up to the two managers and said, "Two Managers, I'd like to go up into that cave and take a look. Perhaps I can discover something."

The Second Manager waved him off. "The people are already gone, there's nothing—"

Suddenly, his voice cut off... Loud laughter echoed from the cave above.

Following that, four figures appeared at the cave entrance. Their features indeed belonged to children, though they were somewhat taller than average youths.

Acting as if they saw no one below them, the four children stepped out of the stone cave and began climbing upward toward the mountain peak.

Their movements were as agile as leaping apes.

Zhou Yikang glanced at the Third Manager, as if saying: See? I told you there were people inside.

The Third Manager opened his mouth, but no sound came out. There really were people inside that cave.

Seeing this, the Second Manager sprinted along the cliff base. "Little friends, could you tell us what kind of medicinal herb you excavated from that cave?"

These four were undoubtedly Qin Anyu and his companions.

Hearing his shouts, none of them bothered to reply, continuing their rapid ascent.

Seeing this, the Second Manager called out again, "Young friends, we are from the Qihuang Apothecary, ranked number one in strength throughout the Kingdom of Dali. If you can tell us the name and uses of that herb, and should you ever need medicinal ingredients, we can offer you the steepest discounts."

Upon hearing that there was such a favorable deal, Qin Anyu thought it sounded acceptable, especially since he currently required a large quantity of medicinal ingredients. He called back, "Come on up then."

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